Pax8’s latest ConnectWise integration has optimized their interface within ConnectWise Manage to reduce the clicks in ordering, updating and linking cloud subscriptions.
Pax8’s Ryan Walsh (L) at the Pax8 booth at Automation Nation.
ORLANDO – At the ConnectWise Automation Nation event here, Denver-based cloud distributor Pax8 was on hand to demonstrate their latest integration with ConnectWise. They have a formal presentation of the integration today.
Pax8 is a ConnectWise Alliance vendor who integrates to the ConnectWise platform.
“This is our first time attending the Automation Nation show, and we are here to show our latest integration with ConnectWise,” said Ryan Walsh, senior vice president of Partner Solutions at Pax8. Automation Nation is focused on ConnectWise’s Automate offering, which was known as LabTech before the company rebranded its offerings last year. Automation Nation tends to attract a more technical audience than IT Nation, ConnectWise’s fall event.
“At last fall’s IT Nation, we presented our first round of syncing between us and ConnectWise,” Walsh said. “Now you can stay in ConnectWise Manage, and with a few clicks, order, update and link cloud subscriptions to agreements within Manage.”
The old way of doing this was through an iFrame, where you just expose the application.
“We have redone the user interface to be optimized within Manage,” Walsh said. “One of our partners, Gravity Networks, said that no other distributors have focused on having such click fluidity within Manage and we are proud of that. We will present our integration Wednesday.”
Pax8 has been steadily adding partners, staff, and new executives since starting up in 2012.
“We have over 50 inside sales now – Cloud Solution Advisors – and are approaching the 100 employee mark,” Walsh said. “The CSAs can demonstrate on behalf of a partner when they need someone to run and conduct a demo on their behalf.” Pax8 is able to provide these services across the U.S. and Canada.
Walsh said that Pax8 has also had strong results from their Wingman Workshops
“These are smaller sessions, where we bring in a dozen to two dozen partners for a day,” he stated. “We just did one in Denver and it was awesome.” Many of the partners are local, but some regional ones fly in, with Pax8 putting them up in a hotel once they arrive.
“It’s a full day of information about things we are doing and topics we are covering, as well as listening to the partners,” Walsh said. “At the Denver one, we talked extensively about recurring revenue and customer acquisition costs – things related to the value associated with an MSP’s business. If you understand recurring revenue and managing customer acquisition costs, you can make a lot of money. The event was extremely well received.”
Walsh said that this event was typical, in that most of the MSPs in the room did not know what their true customer acquisition cost is.
“When we talked about the cost of that – and how they can move from 5x EBITBA [Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization] to 8x EBITDA – we got their attention,” Walsh said. “Pax8 builds services specifically around customer acquisition costs.”
Walsh said that the channel still tends to need help improving their sales and marketing.
“At these shows like Automation Nation, the sessions that talk about marketing are always packed,” Walsh said. “Most of our partners are solid technologists, but they need some help selling and marketing. “Most partners haven’t engaged current techniques about marketing. Today, it’s about crafting and presenting content, not about writing a three-page email telling the prospect why they should work with you. Today’s customer has a short attention span. This is what we are good at – marketing that is short, effective, and with a call to action.”
